Daring Exploit of Kit Carson and Lieutenant Beale--General Kearney
Saved.
The situation of General Kearney and his men could not have been more
desperate. The only subsistence they had were their mules, and the water
was insufficient to meet their wants. They were completely surrounded by
the brave California Mexicans. They might exist for a time on the bodies
of their animals, but they must perish without water.
General Kearney called his friends together during the afternoon to
consult as to whether any possible means of escape was before them. He
could see none. He had sent three scouts to Commodore Stockton at San
Diego, asking for immediate help, but the three were captured by the
Mexicans on their return. Kearney had succeeded in exchanging a Mexican
lieutenant, whom he held prisoner, for one of the scouts, but nothing
was gained thereby. The messenger reported that they had been unable to
reach San Diego, and Commodore Stockton, therefore, was in ignorance of
the peril of his countrymen not far distant.
When every one expressed himself as unable to see the first ray of
hope, Carson in his deliberate, modest way said that it was clear only a
single possibility remained--that was by procuring relief from Commodore
Stockton at San Diego. Though the other scouts had failed to reach
him, Carson expressed his belief that he could succeed. At any rate, he
desired to make the attempt to pass the Mexican lines.
Lieutenant Beale, since Minister to Austria, and favorably known
throughout the country, immediately seconded the proposition,
volunteering to accompany Carson. General Kearney gladly and gratefully
accepted the offer, and the arrangements were instantly made. These
arrangements were of the simplest nature. The beleaguered Americans
were surrounded by three cordons of sentinels, and it was necessary
for Carson and Beale to make their way past them in order to reach San
Diego.
When night was fully descended, the two left the rocks and approaching
the first line, sank upon their hands and knees, and crawled forward
with the silence and stealth of Indian scouts. Despite the utmost care,
their shoes made a slight noise now and then, and to avoid it, they took
them off and shoved them in their belts.
The exploit of Lieutenant Beale and Kit Carson was a most remarkable
one in every respect. Frequently through the gloom they would catch the
faint outlines of a sentinel, pacing back and forth. Instantly the two
would lie flat on their faces until the man moved away, when the painful
progress would be resumed.
The slightest forgetfulness was certain to prove fatal, for the
Mexicans, knowing the desperate straits of the Americans, must have
been expecting some such attempt and were therefore more than usually
watchful.
Once a mounted Mexican rode close to the prostrate figures, sprang off
his horse and lit his cigarette. He was so close that the tiny flame
showed his nose and features, as it was held in front of his face, while
lighting the twist of tobacco. During that most trying moment, as
Kit Carson afterwards declared, he distinctly heard the beating of
Lieutenant Beale's heart.
There seemed no escape but finally the horseman drove away and the
painful progress was continued for fully two miles, during which both
men were constantly peering through the darkness for signs of danger.
Again and again they were compelled to halt, and lying flat on their
faces, wait till their fate was determined.
"We are through," whispered Carson at last, when considerable distance
beyond the last row of sentinels.
"Thank heaven!" exclaimed Lieutenant Beale in the same guarded voice.
"Now we'll put on our shoes and travel as fast as we know how to San
Diego--"
The mountaineer paused in dismay, for, while creeping over the plain, he
had lost both his shoes that were thrust in his belt. The Lieutenant had
been equally unfortunate, and, as it was utterly out of their power
to recover them, they could only push on barefooted, over a soil that
abounded with thorns and prickly pears. As these could not be seen in
the darkness, their feet were soon wounded to a distressing degree. It
was necessary to avoid the well beaten trails, so that the route was not
only made longer, but much more difficult on account of the obstacles
named.
Yet they were working for a great stake. The lives of General Kearney
and his brave men were in the balance. If Carson and Beale failed to
bring help right speedily, they were doomed.
All night long, through the succeeding day and far into the following
night, the couple, worn, wearied and with bleeding feet, pushed ahead.
When exhausted, they would halt for a brief while, but the thought of
their imperilled comrades, and the fear that some of the Mexicans were
pursuing them, speedily started them off again and they kept to their
work with a grim resolution which heeded not fatigue, suffering and
wounds.
The only compass Carson had was his eye, but he was so familiar with the
country that he never lost himself. The weary men were still trudging
forward, when through the darkness ahead suddenly flashed out a
star-like point of light. Several others appeared and a minute after
they dotted the background of gloom like a constellation.
"That's San Diego!" exclaimed Carson, who could not be mistaken. The
couple could scarcely restrain their joy. New life and activity thrilled
their bodies, and they hurried on with the same elastic eagerness they
felt at the beginning.
In a short while they were challenged by sentinels, and making known
their mission, were taken before Commodore Stockton. That officer, with
his usual promptness, sent a force of nearly two hundred men to the
relief of General Kearney. They took with them a piece of ordnance which
for want of horses the men themselves were forced to draw.
They advanced by forced marches to the endangered Americans, scarcely
pausing night or day, until in sight of the Mexicans, who considering
discretion the better part of valor, withdrew without exchanging a shot
with the naval brigade.
As may be supposed, the feet of Carson and Beale were in a frightful
condition, when they reached San Diego. The mountaineer, on that
account, did not return with the reinforcements, but he described the
course and location so minutely that no difficulty was experienced by
the relieving force.
Lieutenant Beale was a man of sturdy frame, accustomed to roughing it
on the frontier, but the sufferings he underwent on that eventful night
were such that he felt the effects for years afterward.